Cisco Beats on Earnings, Outlook Is On Target

CNBC.com With Reuters

Tuesday, 13 Nov 2012 | 5:20 PM ETCNBC.com

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Cisco Systems reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts' expectations on Tuesday due to cost cuts and the company's broad product range. The networking-gear maker also issued guidance that was in-line with estimates.

AP

"I'd characterize the last quarter as a very solid quarter in what is clearly a tough market," Chambers said on CNBC, noting that the company's 6-percent revenue growth and earnings growing twice as fast as revenue while many peers struggled.

Net income rose 18 percent to $2.1 billion in the fiscal first quarter, or 39 cents per share, from $1.8 billion, or 33 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the company's earnings rose to $2.6 billion, or 48 cents per share, from $2.3 billion, or 43 cents, a share in the year-earlier period.

Revenue increased 6 percent to $11.88 billion from $11.26 billion a year ago.

Analysts had expected the company to report earnings excluding items of 6 cents a share on $11.77 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.

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For the current quarter, the company expects to earn 47 to 48 cents per share, which is in line with analysts' estimates of 47 cents a share.

Cisco forecasts revenue growth of 3.5 to 5.5 percent in its fiscal second quarter. This projection implies revenue of $11.9 to $12.2 billion and is roughly in-line with the $12.0 billion that analysts had estimated.

Following the release, RBC Capital Markets Analyst Mark Sue said, "Those numbers are not that bad considering it's been a pretty tough environment."